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Jupiter’s de Fonclare remains defensive
Jupiter’s Cédric de Fonclare has not been adding risk to his European funds in spite of the fact the region has officially entered a bull market.
The manager of the £503m Jupiter European Special Situations fund said that he was remaining defensively positioned in the view downside risks remain too elevated.
“I’m not a buyer right now. I’m not buying the banks,” he said.
“I think we will have more volatility and I am investing into global growth to benefit from the emerging market theme at a later date.”
The manager took over the fund in July 2005 from Leon Howard-Spink. It reports a return in the past five years of 10.8 per cent, ranking it 13th out of 85 funds in the IMA Europe excluding UK sector, according to Morningstar.
The fund is heavily weighted in defensive stocks such as pharmaceutical firms Sanofi-aventis and Novartis, agri-business giant Syngenta and healthcare stock Fresenius Medical Care.
At the end of December 2011 its greatest geographic weighting was a 23 per cent position in Switzerland, which has been seen as a ‘safe haven’ away from the debt issues that are affecting many eurozone economies.
